Hundreds wait hours for final flu shots as vaccine runs out

Jamie Komarnicki, Calgary Herald01.10.2014

Hundreds of Calgarians lined up for their flu shots at the Brentwood Village Mall clinic this week, as confirmed cases of H1N1 flu rose and doses of the vaccine dwindled. Alberta is in the process of closing clinics, as the supply of vaccine runs out.

The province is closing the clinic doors on this season’s influenza mass immunization program, faced with a problem previously unheard of in Alberta: no leftover vaccine.

As the Public Health Agency of Canada secured an 11th-hour supply of 245,000 more doses Friday, top doctors from around the country are now determining how much vaccine is left and where it should be distributed.

But Alberta Health Services, which is co-ordinating the big public clinics in Alberta, closed sites through much of the province Friday, with plans to shut remaining clinics in the south and central zones the following day.

Health officials delivered an estimated 7,000 doses of flu vaccine in the Calgary area Friday before the well ran dry. Clinics stopped accepting new patients at 6:30 p.m., but hundreds remained waiting in line, likely for hours.

Those who arrived before the cut-off were given wrist bands, a guarantee to be immunized in this last-ditch rush.

Stephanie Weir, who stood near the beginning of a long, snaking line into the Brentwood Village Mall clinic in northwest Calgary, said she was told she was in for a roughly three-hour wait. But with a compromised immune system, putting her more at risk of getting sick, she had little choice.

“I should have gone sooner,” she said, still standing outside.

Inside, the lineup twisted and turned before ending at the clinic. Young and old, the last-minute dosage seekers shuffled along, some of them kicking themselves for not getting immunized sooner.

Carmen Fleuren, who had been waiting for more than two hours, said she was missing a shift at her part-time job at a theatre to get immunized.

A full-time teacher, she said she was too ill to get the shot when her school was handing out vaccines to staff in the fall.

“I’m not taking any chances,” she said, calling the lineup “ridiculous.”

According to the province’s statistics, more than one million people have been vaccinated this season — more than any other year except during the special immunization campaign for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Many have lined up in just the past few weeks.

This comes even as public health officials say Alberta is experiencing a regular flu season when it comes to the number of lab confirmed cases and deaths.

In a statement, Talbot said each year the province has more than enough vaccine compared to the number of people lining up for shots.

Last year alone, as many as 60,000 doses went to waste.

“This will be the first year that demand has been greater than supply,” Talbot said in the statement.

The mass clinics have been operating since October, but the immunization push didn’t gain much steam until word circulated that H1N1 was the dominant strain this season and that the number of cases sending Calgarians to hospital had climbed.

Some vaccine is being put aside for children who got their first shot and require a second dose for full protection. Limited doses will also be kept in case of an outbreak at a health facility.

Public health officials say simple practices, such as frequent hand-washing, can help thwart the spread of the disease. But people should stay home if experiencing symptoms such as fever, cough, diarrhea or vomiting.

Calgary Liberal MLA Dr. David Swann said it’s a tough call each year to figure out how much vaccine to order without throwing too much away.

“Hindsight is 20/20. I’m honestly not sure what you can do with better planning unless you decide at the end of the day you’re prepared to throw out thousands of doses,” said Swann.

“People do what they do. It’s an optional choice.”

He said the province could have done a better job making clear how much vaccine was left during the charge to the immunization clinics in the past few weeks.

But the message that people should get vaccinated should remain unchanged, he added.

“There’s never been anything but a consistent message to get the flu shot. When that message is given, most people ignore it.

“In this case, more people than expected decided to follow that advice.”

He predicted that the province might have to place a larger order for the vaccine for next season, even if it means some of it goes to waste if the same rush to the clinics isn’t repeated.

­— With files from Reid Southwick

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Hundreds wait hours for final flu shots as vaccine runs out

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